SHA says fewer flu clinics will be available in Saskatchewan this fall

Laureen Marchand is planning to get a flu shot this year, but she's hit a road bump.

The closest place she can get a shot is 55 kilometres away from her hometown of Val Marie, Sask. Usually, there's a flu clinic right in town.

"I began to be kind of concerned that in the year when the flu shot is even more important than normal, access is more limited," Marchand said. 

"Because I know what will happen. People will just decide, well, it's too hard. I'm not going to do it. And that's a concern, you know, because we don't need any more sick people."

Sheila Anderson, the Saskatchewan Health Authority's executive director of primary health care in Regina, confirmed that there may not be as many flu clinics as usual in Saskatchewan due to pressures on public health resources.

"We are making every effort to have outreach through other health-care providers," Anderson told CBC's The Morning Edition. "We are expanding the opportunities for patients to receive immunizations within the health system where they haven't been able to do so in the past, such as emergency rooms and local health-care centres."

The SHA is also partnering with family physicians, pharmacies and nurse practitioners for this year's flu vaccine campaign.

Anderson said not all of the plans are in place yet, but they should be by next week and people will be able to see on the internet where the flu shot is available near them.

Southern Hemisphere had short, minimal flu season

Dr. Tania Diener, medical health officer for Regina, said health experts look to the Southern Hemisphere to get an idea of what the upcoming season may look like in the Northern Hemisphere. Peak influenza season in the Southern Hemisphere is April to July.

"If we look at the Southern Hemisphere for their last season, they actually saw a huge increase and the uptake of influenza immunizations and they saw a huge decrease in the number of influenza cases," Diener said.

"They saw a very short and a very minimal influenza season."

She said the minimal flu season in the Southern Hemisphere may be due to both the increase in influenza immunizations and the protocols that were in place for managing COVID-19, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask and staying home when sick.

Avoiding a 'twindemic'

That doesn't mean you don't need to get vaccinated for the flu this year. Diener and other health-care providers are encouraging people to get vaccinated in order to avoid a "twindemic," a flu season that coincides with a surge in COVID-19 cases.

While the outcome in the Southern Hemisphere is encouraging, she said there's no way to predict with 100 per cent accuracy what's going to happen when flu season hits Canada.

Diener said that while she thinks everyone should get immunized, it's especially important for people who are higher risk.

"We're looking at the elderly, the young, pregnant women, those with underlying conditions, chronic conditions … people in institutions like our long term care facilities and personal care homes."

Health-care workers should get immunized, she said, because they deal with people who are at higher risk.

"All of us can do our part by protecting ourselves, our family, our friends and those we work with and the people we care for," she said. 

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